Who's the best team in the Super Bowl era?

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. I'm not making any predictions on who's going to win, because that's already been done in 9.8 million places.

Instead, I am ranking all the teams in terms of success in the Super Bowl era. Below are the 32 teams, generally in order of Super Bowl winning percentage. (I have discounted the winning percentage for those teams making less than 4 appearances, for the same reason that batters who hit 1.000 after going 2 for 2 as a pinch-hitter are not eligible for the batting title.)

Tie-breakers for teams with the same winning percentage are determined by how many league championships they won in the pre-Super Bowl era.

Teams in the first section are ranked strictly by their SB winning percentage.

The second section (less than 4 appearances, but with some wins) is generally by winning percentage, although the 1-for-1 teams were ranked lower because of only making 1 appearance.  I first thought about including the teams with 3 bowls in the first section, but I couldn't rank the Rams and Seahawks (with their 1 win each) ahead of the Ravens.

The 3rd section are the teams with only Super Bowl losses.  I first thought about ranking the 0-for-4 chumps last, but decided instead to give them credit for making the Supe so many times.

The last section are those teams that never made it to a Super Bowl.  Those poor Browns - they won 8 titles in the pre-Super Bowl era, including 5 straight from 1946 to 1950, but this is about Super Bowls, so they are near the bottom of the list.

My next post will be either the 1972 Patriots or the 1968 Eagles, depending on who wins tomorrow. (Hopefully I will post that sometime before Super Bowl LIII.)

RIP - 2017

Players from the 1965-1975 era that passed away in 2017:

Also: Clarence Williams (DE), Len Rohde (T), Y.A. Tittle (QB).

1967 Custom Cards II

A few months ago, I stumbled across a website of the company above that makes (mostly football) Cards That Never Were. It seems that they specialize in Cowboys, Packers, and Bears sets, but there are many more football team sets from the 1950s to 1970s, as well as a few baseball offerings (such as 1970-style Brewers cards that actually say "BREWERS" instead of "PILOTS").

Here is the site's main link.

After much consideration as to whether I should post the cards I purchased (because although I bought them outright, this guy is in business to make these cards, and anyone saving my posted card images from the internet is siphoning off his business), I decided not to post them because of this and this.

I have already purchased:

1967 Cowboys

1971 Cowboys

1967 Packers

1968 Packers

These cards look great, and the backs also match the vintage sets (except for a company advertisement). The only issue I've had so far is that the blue borders on the 1971 set do not match the color of the original set.

Also, they have created a 140-card extension set (the "3rd series") for the 1966 NFL set, which you can either purchase in its entirety, or build your own custom packs (complete with wax-pack wrappers). I have purchased 2 custom packs, 1 of all Eagles, and 1 of all quarterbacks.

Feb 2024 edit: It appears that the 1966 cards are now available per team, not as an entire set. Nor can you "build-a-pack", as in the past.

RIP - 2016

Players from the 1965-1975 era that passed away in 2016:

Also: Andy Maurer (Falcons), Bill Stanfill (Dolphins)

1967 Custom Cards

A few years ago, I asked John Hogan at the "Cards That Never Were" blog if he would make a few custom football cards for me, specifically some starting quarterbacks that were missing from the '67, '68, and '71 sets. He soon responded with some real beauties. I have already featured those 1968 and 1971 custom cards on my blogs for those years. Now it is time for the 1967s.

Jack Concannon was left out of the 1967 set because at press time, he was probably still the Eagles' #3 quarterback. Traded to the Bears in the off-season for TE Mike Ditka, Concannon became the Bears' starting QB for the next 4 seasons, before giving way to Bobby Douglass in 1971.

Veteran Milt Plum was the Browns' #2 pick in 1957, and was their starting QB through the 1961 season (making the Pro Bowl in '60 and '61). He was the Lions' starting QB from 1962-65, and started 6 games each season for the Lions in '66 and '67. Perhaps Karl Sweetan was chosen as the QB in the 1967 set because he started 8 games in 1966, to the injured Plum's 6 games. After 1967, Plum was traded to the Rams for QB Bill Munson. He finished his career in 1969 with the Giants.

Billy Kilmer was the 49ers' 1st pick in the 1961 draft. After 6 years with the Niners (4 on the bench behind John Brodie, and 2 on injured reserve), Kilmer was selected by the Saints in the expansion draft prior to the 1967 season. Gary Wood was chosen as the QB for the '67 set. My theory is that Wood started many games for the Giants in 1966 due to Earl Morrall's injury, while Kilmer and 3rd QB Gary Cuozzo had not been starters in the previous season.

Kilmer spent 4 years in New Orleans, the last 3 1/2 as their starting QB. His penance with the Saints was rewarded in 1971, when he was traded to the Redskins and installed as their #1 QB for the next 7 seasons. In 1972 he led the NFL with 19 TD passes, and took the 'Skins to the Super Bowl.

With the Giants' QB department in shambles after the 1966 season, the team acquired Fran Tarkenton from the Vikings. Tarkenton had been the Vikes' starter since their inaugural season in 1961, and made the Pro Bowl in '64 and '65. During his 5 seasons in New York he made 4 more Pro Bowls. After the 1971 season, Fran was traded back to the Vikings, where he was the starting QB for his remaining 7 seasons. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

With Scramblin' Fran now in New York, what were the Vikings to do? Raid the Canadian League for their star QB Joe Kapp! Kapp played 4 seasons in the NFL, 3 with the Vikings and one with the Boston Patriots. Joe made the Pro Bowl in 1969, while leading the Vikings to the Super Bowl.

John also made some cards of Doug Buffone, after his death a few years ago. Here is the 1967 card.


=========================================================

I also found this custom card of ex-Packers' great Jim Taylor floating around on the internet. It was made by Bob Lemke, who creates limited edition cards (fronts and backs) for sale to the public.